Missouri lawmaker sits for Pledge, cites Kaepernick protest

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri state senator has refused to stand while her colleagues recited the Pledge of Allegiance in the state Capitol.

Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a St. Louis Democrat, says her silent protest Wednesday on the Senate floor was intended to show solidarity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick has kneeled for the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial oppression. Nasheed, who is black, says she wants to call attention to those issues and isn't "anti-America." Nasheed's protest was met with silence in the chamber.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a former GOP candidate for governor who presided over the Senate Wednesday, released a statement calling Nasheed's protest an "occasion for great sorrow." He said he worried about "the example she is setting, particularly for our young people."